Willard Thorp

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Not to be confused with Princeton English professor Willard Thorp (1899–1990), husband of Margaret Farrand Thorp.
Willard Thorp
Thorp testifies at public hearings of the Joint Congressional Executive Monopoly Committee (December 2, 1938)
1st Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
In office
1946–1952
PresidentHarry S. Truman
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byHarold F. Linder
Personal details
Born
Willard Long Thorp

(1899-05-24)May 24, 1899
Oswego, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 10, 1992(1992-05-10) (aged 92)
Pelham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materAmherst College
Occupationeconomist
statistician[1]
academic
public servant

Willard Long Thorp (May 24, 1899 – May 10, 1992) was an American economist and academic. [2] He served three US Presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower as an advisor in both domestic and foreign affairs. He helped draft the Marshall Plan and was also prominent in business and education.[3]

Biography

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He was born on 24 May 1899 in Oswego, New York. He was raised in Chelsea, Massachusetts and Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated Amherst College in 1920.[4] In 1939 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.[5][1]

He was Assistant Secretary of State under Truman for Economic Affairs 1946–1952;[3][6] a member of the U.S. delegation serving as special adviser on economic matters at the Paris Peace Conference of 1946;[3] special adviser on economic matters at the New York meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in 1946;[7] and American representative to the United Nations General Assembly, 1947–48.[7]

He came under great strain during the McCarthy 'witch-hunt' investigations into alleged Communists 1950–1954[7] and eventually resigned, becoming a professor at Amherst College again instead.[3] In 1957, he served for a number of weeks as interim president of the college.[4]

He died on 10 May 1992 in Pelham, Massachusetts.

Works

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  • Business Annals:United States, England, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Australia, India, Japan, China. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. 1926. Retrieved 19 June 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  • Economic Institutions. New York: The Macmillan. 1929 – via Internet Archive.
  • Trade, Aid, or What? Report based upon a conference on international economic policy at the Merrill Center for Economics, Summer - 1953. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press. 1954. Retrieved 19 June 2024 – via Internet Archive.

References

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  1. ^ a b Thorp, Willard L. (March 1948). "Statistics and Foreign Policy (Presidential Address Delivered at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association on December 29, 1947)". Journal of American Statistical Association. 43 (241): 1–11. JSTOR 2280063.
  2. ^ Lambert, Bruce (11 May 1992). "Willard L. Thorp, 92, Economist Who Helped Draft Marshall Plan". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Lambert, Bruce (May 11, 1992), "Willard L. Thorp, 92, Economist Who Helped Draft Marshall Plan", New York Times.
  4. ^ a b "Collection: Willard L. (AC 1920) and Clarice Brows Thorp Papers | Amherst College - ArchivesSpace". archivesspace.amherst.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  5. ^ View/Search Fellows of the ASA Archived 2016-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 2016-07-23.
  6. ^ Thorp, Willard (May 1947). "International Agreements and International Trade". Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science. 22 (3): 60–73. doi:10.2307/1172933. JSTOR 1172933.
  7. ^ a b c McKinzie, Richard D.; Wilson, Theodore A. (July 10, 1971), Oral History Interview with Willard L. Thorp, Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, retrieved 2015-03-02.
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